Maintaining Essential Services at the Walker County Landfill during COVID-19

Chickamauga, GA – The Walker County Landfill provides an essential service to the community, as the proper disposal of waste reduces health hazards and environmental concerns. With more people now at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an influx of customers at the Landfill has strained efforts to provide an essential service while protecting the health and safety of customers and employees.

“If you could hold off on cleaning out that shed or garage, I understand people are at home and they want to stay active and this is a perfect opportunity to catch up on these old projects, but if you can limit the waste stream to just essential household waste, we would appreciate that,” said Paine Gily, Landfill Manager.

In order to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, residents are asked to limit non-essential outings and observe the following guidelines:

Construction and demolition material, such as wood, drywall or bricks, should never be mixed with municipal solid waste, also referred to as MSW. The landfill is only accepting MSW from residents at this time and reserves the right to refuse any mixed loads.

Accumulate several bags of waste to limit trips. This will help reduce the number of customers gathered at the landfill at any given time.

If you need tools, like a rake, bring your own to avoid contact with high touch surfaces.

All loose garbage should be bagged to limit potential exposure for landfill employees or other customers. State regulations require windblown material to be picked up.

“We’re seeing a large volume of people concentrated in a small area. Our transfer station is only large enough to accomodate a certain amount of people,” added Gily. “When we get more than enough people in there at one time, that just opens up the possibility for something to spread.”

Another option residents may want to consider at this time would be to contract waste pickup with one of the nearly dozen curbside haulers licensed to operate in Walker County. You can find a complete list of private companies that provide household garbage service on the county’s website under the landfill page.